MD-PhD Graduation Speech

"It only ends once. Anything else that happens before that is just progress."

I was nominated by my MD-PhD classmates at Harvard Medical School to be one of the student speakers for the 2022 MD-PhD graduation ceremony. For this speech, I reflected on what progress means to me and to my fellow classmates who dedicated 8+ years of ours lives pursuing both MD and PhD degrees. I also spoke about the privilege and subsequent obligation our training imbues us with to push both science and medicine forward. Finally, I publicly thanked the many people that supported us as we chased our dreams. This graduation ceremony was an end, but there is so much story, so much progress left to explore.

The video and accompanying text to my MD-PhD graduation speech are below.

MD-PhD Graduation Speech Text

On Progress

Good evening everyone!

I am honored to be speaking in front of you all today. To be honest, when Loren initially emailed me saying that several of my classmates nominated me to speak at our graduation dinner, would I like to accept? – my first thought was “Oh no! More work!”

To be fair, it wouldn’t be an MD-PhD degree if you weren’t working to the very last day of medical school. I know this because many of my classmates here are still working on papers, finishing up projects, or have started entirely new ones!

In all seriousness, thank you for honoring me with the opportunity to share a few words tonight.

I want to start with one of my favorite quotes in life, one that has provided me solace and quiet motivation during my time at Harvard.

“It only ends once.

Anything else that happens before that is just progress.”

This quote is from one of my favorite TV shows – LOST, and to me perfectly describes the goal of MD-PhD training and what today represents for us graduates.

We started this journey 7, 8, 9, 10, even 11 plus years ago. Many of us - fresh-faced, excited, and energetic. We came to Harvard with ideas on how we want to combine research and medicine. We also came to Harvard with no clue of exactly what we were getting ourselves into!

To start with the most obvious point, the MD-PhD career path is long. Like really long. I’m sure many of us have had that experience when you’re home for the holidays and an extended family member asks - what you’re doing now, to which you respond, “I’m in school” and they reply with “still!?”

For years and especially during the PhD years, there doesn’t appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, it feels like we’re walking down a long, dark corridor, waiting for light, any light to appear at the end to comfort us and signal that we’re on the right path.

This time of “uncertain exploration” is where PhDs experience much personal growth. It is during this time we learn to believe in ourselves and in our work, partly because if we don’t, the PhD simply won’t happen.

It was during this time I found solace in the quote – “it only ends once. Anything else that happens before that is just progress.”

I had to believe that every day I went into lab, every PCR, the countless minipreps, failed experiments, and negative data was part of the process and was indeed progress, even if it didn’t feel that way.

The importance of getting up and working on a hard problem did more than just build character, it gave me confidence that if I put my mind to something, and worked diligently…for years, I could push the boundary of knowledge forward. What our PhDs represent is the culmination of hard work, brilliance, and perseverance. I’m so proud of that accomplishment for all of us. It’s one no one can ever take away.

The MD training has been equally rewarding, and honestly quite humbling! My fellow graduates know that feeling of returning to the hospital after being years away and thinking to ourselves –

“what have I gotten myself into…again!”

This degree is filled with transitions and returning to medical school after the PhD was…let’s just say - rough. But after a few weeks, maybe months, we get used to the rhythm and flow of the hospital, we learn how to work on teams, and we are entrusted to take care of patients.

This last part is the true gift of the program. For my PhD, I studied the pathogen, Mycobacterium abscessus, where I peered into the bacteria’s genome to uncover secrets on how it builds its cells wall and resists antibiotics. But it wasn’t until I met and took care of my first patient with an abscessus infection did the power of our training crystallize.

To practice medicine, to take care of patients is a blessing. So is witnessing the limitations of medicine and imagining the ways we can push medicine forward. To think of those questions, conjure up experiments, and work to do better by patients to me is the beauty of the MD-PhD. I am grateful to have this training. And all these years later, I can stand in front of you and confidently say - it was worth it. Thank God!

As we end this chapter of our journeys and embark on new ones, I am again drawn to the line:

“It only ends once.

Anything else that happens before that is just progress”

The key word I want to focus on here is progress.

What does progress mean to me?

Progress means dreaming big and dreaming on. Because nothing exists in this life that didn’t start off as a dream or vision first. Whether it be a new invention, new treatment, or a completely new theory to explain the world. We dream it first, then work hard, then own it.

Progress means pushing forward against all odds and all obstacles. Because the difference between a dream realized, and a dream deferred, is the distance we are willing to travel and the grit we demonstrate to get the job done.

And most importantly, progress means caring about the future and the lives of our fellow human beings. Because we work to build a better world not only for us and our contemporaries, but also for the people and patients who will come after us. People who will build upon our successes. And push humanity forward to even higher and greater heights.

This is how we go from the discovery of DNA – in the 1860s, to identifying its structure - in the 1950s, to directly editing genomes and curing genetic diseases - in the 2020s. I became a scientist because I am inspired by that continual, progressive march.

So to the graduating MD-PhD Class of 2022 and soon to be degreed members of the scientific and medical communities, we have been privileged with the training to help fashion this progress. To lead the forward march of science and medicine.

The work is hard. Tough. At times rewarding, but many more times - frustrating.

Still, I have the utmost confidence that my friends in this room will be the engines pushing humanity forward. For as long as we have our goals defined with crystal clear clarity, coupled with dogged determination and grit, everything we do before reaching that goal, anything that happens before that goal, is progress.

To wrap up this speech, I want to end with a few thank yous.

In truth I lied when I described our career path as a dark tunnel with no light in sight for years. Very dramatic! In reality, there have always been lights in the tunnel, in the form of guidelights, illuminating the way and pointing us in the right direction.

One of the most important lights are - our mentors. My mentor, Eric Rubin has been thee guiding light in my journey towards becoming a physician-scientist. I have grown immeasurably as a trainee due to your guidance and steadfast belief in me. Thank you for being an excellent role model and most importantly a great person. And to all the mentors in the room and for those who couldn’t make it – thank you for being the guiding lights in our journeys.

Second, I want to thank the Black and Brown physicians and scientists who have come before, and paved the way for students of color like me to be in an institution like this and thrive.

Our numbers in the profession are disproportionally small, but I’m hopeful that over time they will grow, and that every student regardless of who they are and where they come from has the ability to have their potential be greeted with opportunity.

I next want to thank everyone at the MD-PhD office. Starting first with Loren – our fearless leader. You inject so much fire and passion into the program, it’s hard for we trainees to not catch the fire ourselves. Your knack for on the fly delivering inspirational speeches is Oscar worthy. We thank you for being our fiercest advocate.

The MD-PhD office, Jen, Jonathan, former members of the office, Amy, Robin, and the rest of the staff. You manage a complex program that interacts with the medical school, various graduate schools at Harvard and MIT, multiple hospitals, and to top it off the NIH! And it all works. Thank you for ensuring that there was always a sturdy structure in place to ensure our success.

Finally - I want to thank the families.

Thank you to my siblings for being there for me, providing laughs, opportunities to vent, for being fun, and inspiring. We’ve been rooting for each other since Day 1 and I’m beyond blessed to have you all in my life. I’m still looking forward to the day one of you can consistently beat me in bananagrams!

And finally, to my parents. 32 years ago today, on May 25th, 1990 my father landed in JFK from Lagos, Nigeria. He came to this country seeking to build a better life for his family both at home in Nigeria and here in the United States. Two years later, my mom and I joined him and together my parents worked and sacrificed everything to provide opportunity to me and my siblings.

They not only stressed the importance of education, they lived it themselves, both studying to become nurses while raising 4 young children. Some of my earliest childhood memories is reading the captions on the figures in my dad’s nursing textbooks or helping my mom type her school essays that she would handwrite first. I am standing on this stage as a direct result of their example and the culmination of an American dream you both held tight, cherished, and worked hard for decades to realize. Thank you Mommy and Daddy.

To all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and extended family in the audience, thank you - for all you have done to raise us, for the love you’ve poured into us, and for supporting us when your crazy kids went off to Harvard Medical School to start an 8 plus year-long degree.

Tonight, we’ve reached one end, and we appreciate you, we love you, and we thank you for inspiring our progress.

On Behalf of the MD-PhD Class of 2022, Thank you!

If you would like to get more blog content as it comes out, feel free to subscribe!